We just took in a husky that was rescued after spending the past ten years on a chain, completely neglected. It looks like his nose (the tip, not the snout)is rotting off! Vet says it is an autoimmune problem, and has prescribed steroids and antibiotics to be given for the rest of the dog's life! Has anyone dealt with this before, and are there any other remedies for this condition? It looks very sore and raw.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), January 19, 2001

Answers

Be kind and put him to sleep!!

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), January 19, 2001.

Could be scraped off from sheer boredom...pacing up and down and doing repetetive behaviors. My oldest catahoula has sort of something like that but it's primarily from being crated too much as a pup (lived in an apt..didn't know she would be like that) with toys and dog food in the crate and she would observe me make sure that the dog food didn't spill...later if she accidently spills the dog food she will gather it all in a big pile with her nose and keep it that way till she's hungry...not good because it will sometimes hurt her nose. What I've done to reduce that behavior is not let her near her food unless other dog (my pit bull Annie) eats from there then she will eat and not obessess with the food..and MUCH less time in the crate. She's happier now but once'n a while her behavior crops up but MAN is she really good at baying hogs and keeping wild critters away from the property and she acts as my hearing dog..she knows I'm deaf so she keeps me informed of what's going on inside and outside which is fun!

Ted

-- Ted Hart (tedhart71@hotmail.com), January 19, 2001.

Yes, I had this happen with a miniature dachshund. I noticed one day that he had a sticky spot on his back. I tried to wash it off to no avail. I thought I had maybe dripped maple syrup on the poor thing. He was always around my feet when food was around. The sticky spot then got bigger and started looking more like a sore within a few weeks. The vet said it was an autoimmune disorder. We did meds for a while. Then as suddenly as it appeared, it started to heal. It healed with a scar and never looked normal in that spot again but he got alright. It may have recurred at some point but he was fine for a few years after that until he dug out under the fence and got hit by a car. I don't know why he got better except maybe the medsturned him around and then his own immunity took over? I wonder if the medication is really a lifetime proposition? Let us know what you find out!

-- Denise (jphammock@msn.com), January 19, 2001.

We had an Australian Shepherd once that we brought home with funny bare patches. The vet said it was the auto immune thing and it turned out to be mange! Dipped him and he was fine. We also got adopted by an Older German Shepherd that had the same thing on its nose and paws. She just showed up on our door step and proceded to die.Of course I couldn't stand it so we fed her and she healed up on her own. I think it was from searching in the snow for food. She was horribly thin. She turned out to be a great kid dog.

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), January 19, 2001.

The dog is not nearly bad enough to be put to sleep! Two vets have said it's the autoimmune thing, so I'm sure that's what it is. Would still appreciate suggestions.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), January 19, 2001.

I had dealings with a GSD cross with chronic sores and scaling on the muzzle and ears. It was lupus. Or at least the canine equivalent of it. She was a sweet dog and needed what I would consider minimal care for it, but sure did look sad. She was always on prednisone and occassionally on antibiotics when she would get an infection in it. She had been in a private, no-kill shelter for months, fet low- quality food because the lady couldn't afford better, and was finally put through the stress of a major fire at the shelter. Lucky to be alive, but traumatized. The vet I worked for privately told me he would have preferred to euthanize, but the new owner wanted to keep her. She did well for as long as I knew her, about 18 months. I'd say the dog you are dealing with needs to be in a low-stress situation with lots of good quality food and TLC.

-- melina b. (goatgalmjb1@hotmail.com), January 19, 2001.

This is not something that I have had any experience with, however, I have heard of a number of causes for autoimmune disease -- change in diet to decent food is always a good first step. I have heard of very good results coming from Bones and Appropriate Raw Food diets (BARF) for dogs with autoimmune diseases. Some seem to be brought on by vaccines and the first step is to discontinue vaccinating (can be quite a challenge). You might be helped if you pursue this through Love of Animals/606 Post Road East/Westport, CT 06880 (800)211- 6365 Fax (203)227-8094

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 20, 2001.

I have a border collie that had the same problem. The autoimmune diagnosis is right out of the Merck's Vet Manual. The library has that book.

I noticed the problem was worse when he had to be tied up most the time and it would flare if he went digging for moles. It was chronically bleeding, too, because he likes to mess with the cats and they don't run.

What I did for my dog is used an anitbiotic cream to kill bacteria. After he dug in the dirt, I used a fungicide. When it was relatively healed, I used sunscreen during the summer because the sun seemed to agravate it. I think swimming in the ocean also helped.

Now that we have our own place, he only gets cabled at night and we move his location a few times a year. I think his biggest factor was the stress of lack of exercise and boredom neurosis. His nose healed up after about six months after moving here and is now just a pink scar. I will be putting waterproof baby sunblock on it next summer if we get any sun.

With your dog, I would go with the antibiotics but only use a steroid topical on the nose, not internally. And get this dog to a place he can run, run run. Can you rig up a wheeled sled for him to pull?

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), January 20, 2001.

As usual, you all have been immensely helpful, and I will try your suggestions on this poor old guy! Hopefully, we'll be able to give him a couple of happy years here, before he moves on to that place where good dogs go when they die. His former owner, on the other hand, who left the dog on a chain with no vet care for ten years, can go straight to H.E. double-hockey-sticks! Thanks again for all your input.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), January 20, 2001.

heard on the radio the other day about making a "lotion: for animals (human animals, too!) that was pretty simple and appearently quite successful.

You simply put about two cups of oatmeal in a pyrex dish with a decent amount of orange peel (an orange's worth would do, I imagine). Cover with water (you want enough so that when you "cook" it, it's pretty runny). Then you heat it up and let it cool to warm, strain through a colander, and apply the resulting lotion to the (freshly washed) animal, concentrating on the wounds. Cover the area with warmed towels (until animal gets tired of the towels, I guess).

From what I know about oatmeal, this seems like it would work well. The lady describing it says her dog now "asks" her for a bath when he's feeling bad!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), January 22, 2001.

Try mixing ACIDOPHOLUS yogurt in with his food every meal for a couple months. This may help.

-- Tiffani Cappello (cappello @alltel.net), January 25, 2001.